The battery and its tray slide into the nose where hands can’t reach. Super cool!

A removable battery tray allows for spot-on placement every time.

making a nice, slow pass, it was time
to wring it out. I like how the AS3X
stabilization system helps the airplane
feel larger and expertly tuned.

After extending and raising the flaps,
I noticed no pitch change. Often, a pilot
must play with mixes to negate the
pitch effect when deploying flaps, but
not with this aircraft!

A full range of warbird aerobatics is
the next order of business. Slow rolls,
Cuban 8s, wingovers, and inverted flight
are all easily achieved with this P- 51.

Not only can it perform—it looks good
while doing it. The easily removed
external tanks, along with the antenna
mast, add to the scale realism when the
airplane is flying by.

The P-51D handles well in its landing
configuration. With the landing gear
down and flaps deployed, the Mustang
really slows down.

It’s a good idea to make a nice, slow
pass to get a feel for the airplane’s slow
flight characteristics. In my experience,
Mustangs like a good two-wheel landing.

This ensures that sufficient speed is
present—allowing the control surfaces
to be effective.

If the model gets too slow upon
landing, you might see an ugly bounce.
I treat my landings similar to a touch-to prevent my descent angle from
becoming too steep.

After achieving a nice descent angle,
I gently flared the airplane and watched
it touch down on the main landing gear.

I slowly fed the throttle back in and
watched the Mustang drive down the
runway on two wheels with its tail up.

I added a little back pressure and it was
off again.

The next approach was the final one. I
touched down on the mains, backed off
of the throttle, and when the tail started
to lower, I planted it to give my rudder
steering some authority. Wait to pin the
tail until you know the aircraft has bled
off enough speed that it won’t take to
the air again.

Conclusion

The E-flite P-51D Mustang is a great
addition to Horizon Hobby’s 1,200mm-
size warbird line. The company provides
a nice-size aircraft that runs on a
common 2,200 3S LiPo battery power
system—making it widely accessible.

The AS3X system makes it a good
choice to take to the field when other
airplanes might be grounded. The E-flite
P-51D has a stable and wide flight
envelope that make it predictable in a
mellow cruise, as well as being rock solid
while being wrung out.

Its highly visible invasion stripes
and red nose and tail make orientation
easy. The E-flite P-51D is an all-around
fantastic airplane that looks as good in
the air as it does on the ground.